While gun rights groups object, Texas Sen. John Cornyn says changes merely a “clarification.”
passed in response to a series of mass shootings includes provisions to better incorporate juvenile records into the federal background check system, but states vary greatly in the way they approach access to guns and the background checks themselves.
Federal law bars gun purchases by anyone convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year. Cornyn said the bill incentivizes states to upload juvenile records they have to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to ensure any disqualifying convictions or mental health interventions are available.“This is, to be clear, not an expansion but a clarification,” Cornyn said.
He also said expanding the records included in NICS searches is likely to increase the rate at which individuals are incorrectly blocked from purchasing a firearm. As legislative director for the Texas State Rifle Association, Andi Turner focuses more on state gun laws than federal, but she questioned holding the missteps of minors against them as adults.
Those records already should be uploaded to NICS, but states have interpreted the law in such a way that they don’t always, according to those backing the change. When it comes to mental health issues, the new law calls for looking back at records only as far as age 16.
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